Flower girls, tomatoes, gardens and love. An eclectic mix today.........

Have you ever seen anything so cute? Missy was a flower girl at her uncle's wedding on Monday. Her Mum's brother got married, and she was a star. She and other children were playing hide and seek at the reception, and I just love this. Sigh. Too sweet for words.

Kids. I tell you, the mothering never ends, does it. My youngest son is en route home from Europe as I speak, and will be home this evening. I have a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG list of things I need him to do before he vanishes down south to learn all about old bones. His Master's degree is in Forensic Osteology. I am sure it is quite fascinating. Old bones. He loves them. He will be off in mid September, and before then, I intend to have as much done around here as possible. And then, the next time he is home will probably be around Christmas, unless he pops back for a weekend some time.

So I sort of waved a duster around his room this morning, and opened the windows, and then went to aquazumba. Hard work, but great. It makes such a difference when you have friends who make you grin. And we fall about laughing at times in the water. No-one has drowned yet, you will be thrilled to hear.

I told you I think my tomato crop is doomed. The ones I picked while green are, however slowly turning red, so we will see what can be salvaged. In the meantime, I bought some at the supermarket, and today I cooked up my tomato relish and now I am just waiting for it to cool so I can freeze it. If I a) had the equipment and b) knew what to do, I would can them. Maybe next year. But freezing them is good, and I want to have enough to last months. Mother Earth. That is what I am. I would have baked bread too had I remembered the yeast.

I have just ladled the relish into bags and there are now 7 in the freezer and one bowl in the fridge. I am going to have to hunt down cheap tomatoes if I want to have enough. I do not like gardening setbacks at all. The garden has not been perfect this year. Anything but. And, even though I am well aware that perfection can be a really negative goal, because it is impossible, it has changed the way I look at it, and that is a constant battle for me. More like frustration, because I know what it could have been. I keep telling myself that there is plenty of beauty in imperfection.

I know.

Of course I know that.

It is just different. Mainly because of the weather, but also because of where I planted things and what I planted when. A steep learning curve. Perfection. Hmmm. Why did some hanging baskets flourish and some die? Same soil, same plants, same wall, same water. Strange. Maybe I will, in tune with the rest of my life, choose to have a simplified garden when I plant one again.

Simplifying. Oh, how we need to simplify our lives. Strip them back to the essentials. There is a wonderful programme on Channel 4 at the moment, called 24 hours in A & E. Accident and emergency, or casualty. Set in a huge London hospital, and filmed over 24 hours. One of the senior nurses says, as the credits roll, that everything can change in a second, and that, in the end, all that really matters is loving and being loved. Nothing else. And every week, those words echo through the corridors of my mind. Nothing else matters in the end. And how simple is that?

Loving brings a whole host of other complications, of course. Vulnerability. Hope. Fear. Pain. Joy. Responsibility. Family. We grow. We change. Times change. Life speeds up and gathers us with it like a tsunami as it swells and grows, and finally tosses us onto the distant shores, and all that is left is the feeling. The emotions. The love. No-one lies dying on a stretcher and asks for his iPad. His car. His fancy suit. Her shoes. Her food mixer. Her make-up bag. They want to be held by those they love. Who love them.

It is that simple. Possessions mean little. Now how did I end up talking about this...

Enough for now.

Just look again at that wee girlie up there at the top of the page, and you will see love. This Moregranny loves her so much. And in case you hadn't worked it out, she is the one in the white dress, with the beautiful long hair. My little Missy. She is growing up fast.